Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has taken to Twitter, addressing the controversy kickstarted by boxer Nikhat Zareen. The 23-year-old wrote to Rijiju, demanding a fair trial bout against Mary Kom for 2020 Tokyo Olympics, stating that rules are being bent and changed to pick the six-time world champion.
Taking to Twitter, Rijiju said that he can only ask the Boxing Federation of India to decide what is best and cannot interfere as ministers are not allowed to do by the Olympic charter.
"I'll surely convey to Boxing Federation to take the best decision keeping in mind the best interest of the NATION, SPORTS & ATHLETES. Although, Minister should not be involved in the selection of the players by the Sports Federations which are autonomous as per OLYMPIC CHARTER," Rijiju tweeted, in response to Zareen's letter which she had shared on social media too.
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Zareen wrote to Rijiju on Thursday, revealing that she had been refused a trial bout before the world championship after the federation decided to send Mary Kom on the basis of her gold-winning performances in the India Open and the President's Cup.
The BFI had earlier introduced a point-based selection system last year under which boxers are now being picked on the back of their performances in various graded tournaments and the national camps. Trial bouts, a norm earlier, are being conducted only in those weight categories in which the coaches and selectors find the competition to be exceptionally close.
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Meanwhile, according to PTI, Mary Kom has maintained that she would go by the decision taken by the BFI, which had earlier stated that only the gold and silver-winners from the world event would be given direct selection for the Olympic qualifiers.
(PTI Inputs)
